Players can buy on 2, 3 or 4 cards and they can twist after buying. Both the dealer and players’ cards are turned face down and the dealer wins all ties. In this game, players twist (hit), stick (stand) or buy (double down). Having either pontoon or a Five Card Trick still pays 2 to 1. The second best hand is a Five Card Trick which is a hand of five cards totaling 21 or less. The highest ranked hand is pontoon, not blackjack, and it is a hand comprised of two cards- an Ace and any 10-valued card. To begin with, Pontoon is played with two decks of playing cards. However, this Pontoon is different from the Australian one that is known among Americans as Spanish 21. On the Internet, Pontoon is offered at online casinos that use RTG, Microgaming and Playtech software with a house edge of 0.38%. If you want to play Pontoon and win cash, you have to learn the rules of game play, understand how it works and practice playing strategy moves. Compared to standard blackjack, the game has different set of rules and terminology, which is why knowing blackjack or having an optimal blackjack strategy won’t help you in this game. The casino card game of Pontoon is considered to be the earliest version of blackjack.
